The functionality of wireless communication devices has rapidly developed over the past decade. Today's wireless communication devices offer applications that require the transmission of large amounts of data over extended periods of time. For example, PDA's and smart phones commonly use mobile broadband to allow users to run applications such as email, internet browsing, internet TV, etc. The large data transfer rates used by today's wireless communication devices are demanding on the communication devices and therefore require increasingly complex transmission systems.
In general, to reduce the power consumption such complex transmission systems rely upon a system architecture in which a low power signal is output from a transmitter chain to a power amplifier. The power amplifier is configured to increase the power of the signal before providing it to an antenna for transmission. By using a low power signal throughout the modulation process power consumption throughout the transmitter chain can be reduced.